One Love Goes International

Growing up in Wilmington in the 1950s Lenny Simpson learned important life lessons through the sport of tennis. On the court it’s just you and the person on the other side of the net. Race and social status become irrelevant. Tennis also broke down barriers for Simpson’s friend and mentor Althea Gibson. After a rough…

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New Like 1852

When you run a historical society out of a historic house historical accuracy is of paramount importance. So while the Oprah wallpaper was greatly appreciated at the time it was well past time for it to go. Twenty years ago the Latimer House Museum in downtown Wilmington was used as a set for a miniseries…

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New Styles in Paint

A trio of unconventional artists work with joy and purpose Artists from Picasso to Jasper Johns have historically experimented with the possibilities of paint and canvas pushing the limits of conventional practice.Today increased access to materials and information and a greater appreciation for diverse creative modes grant painters more freedom.Three artists with roots in the…

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A Redemption Story

Dale Varnam insists he is not crazy. He makes that abundantly clear up front. And in the middle. And at the end. “I don’t want you to think I’m crazy” is a repeated phrase during a typically long visit with the proprietor of Fort Apache the quirky roadside attraction/museum/junk store near Supply in Brunswick County.…

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Shifting Sand

What is our coastline made up of? If you scoop up a handful of beach sand you will be mostly looking at quartz-rich clear-to-milky sand grains that are often 90-plus percent of the composition with some whole shells but mostly shell fragments broken by wave energy. If you could go back in time the island…

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Painting the Edges of Memory

Nostalgia and storytelling in the work of Nicole White Kennedy One could argue that all visual art is narrative; that a time place context and subject are implied once brush is set to canvas in both representational and abstract art. And yet there are those images that take this experience a step further. Like a…

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A Fisherman’s Life

When you live and breathe fishing it’s important to keep an ample supply of bait on hand. Time spent running to the store is time that could be spent on the water. Sammy Corbett found a simple fix to the problem. “I remember he used to live on Pelican Drive in Wrightsville Beach ” says…

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#dreamy316

“It was just dreamy ” homeowner Donna Aldredge says. “Everything we chose had to meet that criteria.” As the walls went up and the windows were placed the panoramic view out the front of 316 Beach Road North on Figure Eight Island gave inspiration to a name. Aldredge quickly took to Instagram to share the…

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